Machine quilting is quilting made through the use of a sewing machine to stitch in rows or patterns using select techniques to stitch through layers of fabric and batting in the manner of old-style hand-quilting.
Free motion quilting is a process used to stitch the layers of a quilt together using a domestic sewing machine. The operator controls the stitch length as well as the direction of the stitching line by moving the quilt with their hands. The stitching can be made in any direction to produce curvilinear lines or straight patterns. Each design, whether drawn on the quilt top or held in the imagination of the quilter, is formed with a line of stitching that is guided by the movement of the quilt under the machine needle. The length of each stitch is determined by the distance the quilt has been moved since the previous stitch.
Machine quilting is the process of using a home sewing machine or a long arm machine to sew the layers together. With the home sewing machine, the layers are tacked together before quilting. This involves laying the top, batting, and backing out on a flat surface and either pinning (using large safety pins) or tacking the layers together. Longarm Quilting involves placing the layers to be quilted on a special frame. The frame has bars on which the layers are rolled, keeping these together without the need for tacking or pinning. These frames are used with a sewing machine mounted on a moveable platform. The platform rides along tracks so that the sewing machine can move across the layers on the frame. In contrast, a sit down quilting machine provides a stationary sewing machine attached to a flat surface for retaining a work piece. The user moves the work piece underneath the needle of the stationary sewing head of the quilting machine while operating a foot pedal that controls a reciprocating needle that creates a desired quilt or pattern.